George Allen / EducateMHC Blog Mobile Home & Land Lease Community Advocate & Expert

February 24, 2023

MHI Takes Legal Action

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 2:07 pm

Blog Posting # 729, Copyright 24 February 2023. EducateMHC

Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, factory-built housing! And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC alone is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two business models! To input this blog or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815, email gfa7156@aol.com, or visit EducateMHC.com to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (Sole MH property management text available today); SWAN SONG, a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and, my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven – my combat adventures in Vietnam & business career in MH & communities.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, Emeritus member of MHI, RV/MH Hall of Fame inductee, and retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines.


MHI Takes Legal Action to Delay DOEs ‘Energy Conservation Standards for Manufactured Housing’

Despite a recent (5 February 2023) lambasting of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’) by MHARR’s long retired founder/still influencer Danny Ghorbani*1, for not engaging with the Department of Energy’s (‘DOE’) ‘Energy Conservation Standards for Manufactured Housing’, MHI on 14 February sent an Important Message to Members from Chairman Leo Poggione, describing the institute’s recent legal action to delay implementation of said standards on 31 May 2023.

The following summary paragraph well-describes what I’ve seen, heard and read about MHI’s ongoing efforts to stop implementation of the DOE standards: “For several years, MHI has been pursuing a multipronged strategy to stop implementation of the DOE standards until the standards are properly incorporated into the HUD Code. Progress has been made with HUD and lawmakers, and we are continuing to work with DOE and HUD to find a workable and affordable solution. However, with the looming deadline and continued lack of clarity from DOE, MHI decided legal action was the only option available.”

End Note.

*1 Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform communique (2/5/23) titled: ‘Using MHARR’s White Paper to Evaluate the Veracity of MHI’s Public Relations Activities’. The tone of this diatribe (‘bitter and abusive denunciation’) was clear in the first sentence: “To be frank, I don’t particularly seek to read anything published by MHI.” Danny Ghorbani

Recent Grassroots Answer to U.S. Housing Crisis

Perhaps it’ll take this straight-from-the-heart critique and commentary, from a longtime land lease community owner/operator, to get the rest of us motivated to communicate and work with local land planning and zoning regulators, increasing opportunities for manufactured housing placement in our local housing markets. The following communique, lightly edited, was recently emailed to nearly a hundred folk throughout the U.S. manufactured housing industry.

Referencing an article titled. ‘Don’t Call Them Mobile – Manufactured Housing Might is the Answer to U.S. Affordable Housing Crisis’ – with this lead: “In the first half of last year, more than 50,000 manufactured homes were shipped across the country….” the owner/operator goes on to say….

“…more often than not I see these articles in Yahoo News or elsewhere talking about ‘affordable housing’. But these articles don’t turn up in our local papers where local commissioners are clamping down or trying to cut off the blood supply (i.e. purchase of new manufactured home) to our industry.

When was the last time state MH association executives or property owners invited county or city commissioners out to look at a new home or land lease communities?

Yes, we still have some dogs (disreputable ‘mobile home parks’) that bring down our industry, and property owners who refuse to haul junkers to local landfills. But we have many nicer communities that would make great places to visit and tour with local reporters and elected officials. Who has invited local codes enforcement officials to view new homes lately?

I’m guilty here. Haven’t done this in years, but when I did, there was good publicity for our community and industry. Also the same with our unique large tornado shelter for residents. I’m ready to do this again!

We need our state MH associations to invite a select group of community owners, in each state, to work on and fund a media blitz for our affordable housing products. Perhaps our housing manufacturers would join us and furnish up to date information on the quality and energy usage of these homes. Our $125,000 3BR/2B homes look pretty good when compared to the payments on a $300,000 site-built home!*1

I hear there’s interest in launching national level manufactured housing brand awareness and
advertising campaign. Why wait? Let’s do both! We have folk in our group here in the southeast who’ve led the way cleaning up dilapidated ‘parks’ and worked with elected officials, who’d be willing to share how they did it.*2

End Notes.

1. Manufactured Housing Institute has just this sort of data, and much more, readily on hand and available for the asking via (703)558-0400 & manufacturedhousing.org

2. David Roden via (423)760-4819 & davidroden@yahoo.com

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